Employment grew by 1,800 in PEI last month

Job figures for August were released Friday by Statistics Canada and they show that in Prince Edward Island employment increased by 1,800 last month.  PEI’s unemployment rate in August was 7.6 percent, down from 8.1 percent in July.  Nationally, the unemployment rate held steady at 5.5 per cent in August as the economy added 40,000 jobs.  Friday’s numbers end a three-month streak of increases in the jobless rate. Employment increased in professional, scientific and technical services as well as construction, meanwhile, jobs were shed in education services and manufacturing.